Half to james a



(No Model.)

A.TURNBULL TOY CANNON. No. 252,157. Patented Jan .10,1882. I

w;; T? I v 5 1 v UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE,

ANDREW TURNBULIJ, OF NEW BRITAIN, CONNECTICUT, ASSIGNOR OF ONE- HALF TO JAMES A. SWANSTON, OF SAME PLACE.

TOY CANNON.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No.

252,157, dated January 10, 1882.

Application filed June 24, 1881. v (No model.)

1 all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ANDREW TURNBULL, of New Britain, in the county of Hartford and State of Connecticut, have invented eer- 5 tain new and useful Improvements in Toy Cannons, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to improvements in toy cannons adapted for firing cartridges, in

which the apparent cannon liesinthe ordinary horizontal position, but is bored transversely, so that the barrel proper is vertical and discharges downward; and the objects of my improvement are to imitate a dangerous weapon,

but which, in fact, fires downward, and therefore is perfectly harmless. I attain these objects by the simple construction represented in the accompanying drawing, which represents a vertical section through the middle of the cannon.

I prefer to mount the cannon A on wheels B in the ordinary manner; butit may be mounted upon any suitable frame, either with or without wheels, to bring it close to the ground or floor, and so sustain it in position that the discharge from. it will always be fired downward, and never horizontal or upii ard. Thecannon is of the ordinary form, and is bored in a short distance from its end to imitate the or- 0 dinary cannon; but, in fact, the longitudinal bore is too short to be of any service and has no provision for tiring. The real bore or barrel proper, a, is formed at cannon and extends transversely through it.

3 This barrel is adapted to receive cartridges, which areinserted at theupper end. Aham m er, 0, of any ordinary construction, is provided, and so placed in relation to the barrel a as to strike upon the upper end of the cartridge to the breech of the explode it. I prefer to operate said hammer to fire it by means of a string, b, so that the operator may stand back some little distance away from the cannon. I intend this cannon for firing blank cartridges but the transverse barrel which fires downward will avoid all 5 danger, even if ball'cartridges are used.

- 1am aware that a prior patent shows a burglar-alarm consisting mainly of a square frame having a bore which extends transversely to the frame through the end which is 0 farthest from the hammer-pivot, and said patentalso suggests that the device may be screwed upon the end of a pistol-handle. Said burglar-alarm, when used as a toy pistol, would be so far elevated above the users feet and limbs as to prove a very dangerous toy, much more so than the ordinary form of longitudinal bore,

so that the transverse bore, instead of being an element of safety, as in my cannon,is converted into an element of danger by placing it in a hand -pistol. The aforesaid burglaralarm, either with or without a handle, is hereby disclainied.

I claim as my invention- A toy cannon consisting of the combination of an imitative cannon-barrel, A, having the barrel proper, a, extending transversely through its breech end, the hammer C, and a suitableframeupon which the barrel is mounted and sustained in position with the muzzle of the barrel a pointing downward, so as to prevent it from being fired in any other direction, substantially as described, and for the purpose specified.

ANDREW TURNBULL.

Witnesses:

J OHN Enwanns, J12, C. E. MrrcHELL. 

